Guides: Open Access Resources: OA Articles

Open Access Articles

Journals and Repositories

Directory of Open Access Journals
Search and access the contents of close to 18,000 open access scholarly journals for free.
Journal TOCs
Allows you to freely search and subscribe to the table of contents of about 32,000 scholarly journals.

There are many repositories which include preprints (articles not yet peer-reviewed) and postprints (articles that have been peer-reviewed but don't have the "official" layout of the publisher). Below is a selection by subject.

arXiv
Includes preprints and postprints. Search for articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics.
BioRxiv
Accepts preprints of articles covering all aspects of research in the life sciences.
MedRxiv
Free online archive of health sciences preprints (unpublished manuscripts) including original research articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, data articles, and articles describing methodological research/investigations and clinical research design protocols.
SocArXiv
This repository contains preprints and postprints in arts and humanities, social sciences, law and education.
OSFPreprints: Preprint Archive Search
Aggregated search that covers preprint servers using the OSF infrastructure, e.g., AfricArXiv, AgriRxiv, Arabixiv, EcoEvoRxiv, EdArXiv, engRxiv, Frenxiv, IndiaRxiv, NutriXiv, PsyArXiv, SocArXiv and others, in addition to other preprint sources, e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv, cogPrints. Does not search MedRxiv as of Jul 3, 2020 and so far we have not found an easy way to export records to citation management software.
CORE
CORE is an aggregator of open access research papers from repositories and journals.

Open Access Browser Extensions

Unpaywall

What is it?

Chrome and Firefox browser extension that helps you find legal open access article PDFs.

How does it work?
Once you have installed the browser extension, whenever you search an article, a lock icon will appear. A green "unlock" means an open access version is available somewhere else. Click on the green icon and it will bring you to the article.

If it's a grey lock, it means Unpaywall couldn't find a free version.

2. Open Access Button

What is it?

Website an/or browser extension that lets you search for an open version of an article.

How does it work?

As a website, search the article title, DOI, URL, etc.
As an extension, if the article is available, an open access icon will appear next to your search bar. Click on it and it will bring you to the open access version.

Open Access Resources

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Open Access Articles

Journals and Repositories

Open Access Browser Extensions